“There was a fine old barn at the Lake George farmhouse. You could see it from the kitchen window or from the window of Stieglitz’s little sitting room. With much effort I painted a picture of the front part of the barn… after that I painted the side where all the paint was gone with the south wind. It was weathered grey–with one broken pane in the small window.”–Georgia O'Keeffe

One of the first generation of American modern painters, Georgia O’Keeffe is noted both for her intensely hued renderings of flowers and for the Southwestern landscapes painted later in her life. In the early years of her career, O’Keeffe was inspired by the cityscapes of Manhattan and the rural environment of Lake George, New York, where she spent part of each year with her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. This painting is one of many she made of a weathered barn on the Stieglitz family estate. The barn’s austere, geometric forms are unusual when compared to the voluptuous flowers she was painting at the same time, but the characteristic sensuality of her work comes through in the soft light and the palette of moody grays and greens.